New Delhi: Desperate times calls for desperate measures. The Indian Army, the largest ground force in the world, has launched an offensive to keep its 1.4 million troops safe from the coronavirus.
Starting Monday, all personnel at the Army headquarters and the Ministry of Defence will go into partial work from home mode. 35% of its officers and 50% JCOs and ORs will be in home quarantine for a week. The second group that works in the first week will proceed for home quarantine on March 30. Intermixing of both groups will be avoided at all costs.
Army sources say it will be impossible to have units and formations go into work from home mode, so other unprecedented measures are being put in place at the orders of the Chief Of Army Staff.
All postings have been deferred. Leaves have been cancelled till April 15. Those on leave have been asked to stay where they are till then.
All travel, domestic and international, has been put on hold. So have war games and conferences. All officers undergoing courses have been asked to stay at their respective institutions till April 15.
This does not apply to Army Medical Corps officers and personnel manning the 10 quarantine facilities the Army has set up.
The Army is also regulating footfall at CSD canteens where all serving and retired personnel buy their groceries and household needs. All veterans have been asked to adhere to social distancing and keep away from clubs and parties.
Socialising, an inherent part of Army life, is at a standstill.
Earlier this week, a 34-year-old at the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre in Leh became the first soldier to test positive for COVID-19. His father had a travel history to Iran, one of the worst affected countries, after China and Italy.
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